Based on your description I would vote skidding winch. You already have a grapple on the FEL for handling in the open. You need something for difficult access like slopes, tight areas. Get a large Farmi, etc and make sure it has 2-4 chokers so you can hook up a couple logs at once. You have enough power to pull multiple logs of all but the biggest stuff.

-Dave

"Being a pessimist is great. You can't lose. Either you end up being right...or you are pleasantly surprised."

Re: Kena 3pt log grapple

Thanks for the link Matt. That RTG-60 does look like it would be a good match. If only the cost was the same at the Kena. Love that built in parking stand of the RTG-60.

But I guess its true what they say, you get what you pay for... I still feel the Kena offers the best bang for the buck, and I think if I don't abuse it, it should be ok behind my tractor. I'm going to try to chase down the actually manufactor and talk to them about it. Looking closely at the photo, the pins look to be cat1 and that you have to add bushings to get to cat2 side. If that's the case, I can see bending a pin the first time a log gets snagged on someting while making a turn.

After walking the 6 acre lot that needs 60% of the trees felled, the slopes are even less that I remembered, so I feel I can clear that lot without the need to do any pulling with a skidding winch or 'old school' chaining.

Re: Kena 3pt log grapple

I gave them a call and talked to a guy that was quite knowledgeable about the unit. It does indeed have cat 1 pins permanently welded on, but he said they have tested it on 100hp tractors and got the front end to lift off the ground with no damage whatsoever to the unit. Never had any come back broken that he knew off. The only complain he had was that the grapple fingers don't overlap, so it won't grab anything smaller than 12" diameter unless you grab it with the tips or at an angle.

The boom is 56" long and is made of 1/4" material throughout and very strong. Thinking about it as I type this, I think if it was truly made of all 1/4" material, it would be a lot heavier than the 130 lbs that is listed. Of course that might be a misprint. He send me the front and back images of their brochure. Not much technical details but interesting.

It is carried at select Tractor Supply stores, and it just so happens that the store 17 miles from me has one sitting out front for $1999. They have always been good about price matching in the past, so they should at least be able to price match the $1875 price I saw online. I'll be able to go take a look at it in person (I'll be sure to bring my measuring tape ) and see that I think about it. There supposedly are several of these sitting at select tsc stores around the country. They do not show up on their online store, which the guy from Kena that I spoke to has been trying to get them to do for a while.

Re: Kena 3pt log grapple

Why don't you just go with the Ryan unit and sell it when your done? The Kena is a decent looking setup but I'd be skeptical of it holding up behind that green dream machine you run. I think the Ryan is perfect match for the deere.

Re: Kena 3pt log grapple

Looking at the pictures of the Kena I'm wondering how it rotates. I can see the grapple is hanging on the boom with chains but is the rotation just what the chains will allow but being that short it seams like it wouldn't want to rotate easily if you wanted to pick up a log that was perpendicular to the tractor. Or is there some form of swivel built into the grapple?

Looking at the pictures of the Kena I'm wondering how it rotates. I can see the grapple is hanging on the boom with chains but is the rotation just what the chains will allow but being that short it seams like it wouldn't want to rotate easily if you wanted to pick up a log that was perpendicular to the tractor. Or is there some form of swivel built into the grapple?

Re: Kena 3pt log grapple

another vote for a skidding winch, You can move more wood per turn with a winch, you aren't limited to just one large stem per trip, you can stay on your wood roads and not track up the forest, you can skid up or down things that you wouldn't be able to drive to with the winch. I am constantly amazed at how much I can pull with my skidding winch. Plus I can focus on keeping the woods roads clear and don't have to worry so much about using my tractor in the woods or impaling something important.